Digital Parenting

It is with great pleasure that we present the 2018 Yearbook from the International Clearinghouse on Children, Youth and Media at Nordicom: Digital Parenting: The Challenges for Families in the Digital Age. The topics addressed in the 2018 Yearbook – how to relate to or mediate children’s use of digital media, generational gaps in the use of media and the use of social media to display or seek support in parenthood – are timely and relevant in many respects and have engaged many qualified scholars from around the world.

Parenting in the digital media environment is a theme often discussed in news media and among parenting groups. Balancing the opportunities of digital media and at the same time considering potentially unwanted and/or negative effects can be a challenge, both for adults and for the younger generation. There are no established policies, long traditions or experience to turn to and many are seeking advice.

The 2018 Yearbook is the result of a great collaborative effort. Nordicom is deeply grateful to the editors of this new anthology, Giovanna Mascheroni, Cristina Ponte and Ana Jorge, as well as to all the contributors who have made this publication possible. It is our hope that the collection of articles will make interesting reading all around the world, stimulate new research and debate and provide new ideas regarding the topical and highly relevant issue of being a parent in the digital age. In the work of the Clearinghouse, the global dimension is a core principle, both with respect to the content we publish and distribute and to the contributors who produce it.

Digital Parenting represents this principle by presenting contributions and examples and involving authors from many areas of the world. All books published by the Clearinghouse aim to shed light on different aspects concerning children, youth and media, spread current information and knowledge and hopefully stimulate further research. Various groups of users are targeted; researchers, policymakers, media professionals, voluntary organizations, teachers, students and interested individuals.

It is our hope that this new Yearbook will be of interest and provide new insights on the topic of digital parenting to a broad range of readers.